Friday the 18th, part 2 - - Day of Death

Hey again ...


Back to Friday the 18th then.


So, Colleen and I picked up her rental car (thank you!) and headed on our way to Kutna Hora - home of the Sedlec Ossuary (aka The Bone Church, or Kostnice Ossuary). Kutna Hora is about an hour and a half from Prague, eastward with a turn to the south towards the end.


I first learned about The Bone Church from my most-talented tattoo artist Jimmy (thanks!), and once he mentioned it I had vague recollections of hearing about it. It has been on the "Ripley's Believe It Or Not" show (do you remember that?!?!? I used to watch it!), as well as in a few movies and documentaries.


For the record, part of me does not want to explain what makes it so interesting and just let my pictures show you. However, part of me feels like I should warn anyone who doesn't have any idea what they are in for. So, I guess I will err on the side of caution ... a little.


;-}


The type of building should tell you a lot really, for those that don't know - - ossuary is defined as "a depository for the bones of the dead."


What makes this particular ossuary unique is that in the 1870's the vast number of bones (over 40k) was transformed into art. From here I will jump right into pictures, rather than try to explain my previous sentence further. I will give more history as I go along.

This greets you as you are about to walk through the arched entrance into the grounds.

A shot of the ossuary and chapel from the surrounding graveyard. The ossuary is on the lower floor, and the chapel on the upper one.

This gives you an idea of the layout of the structure.

And now for the bones ... many many many many many (repeat ad infinitum) bones ...

This is above the stairs as you descend, and was the first thing I saw as I entered into the ossuary ... with a little trepidation mind you.

These are in recessed nooks on either wall of the stairway down ... note the garlands of skulls. Ummm, OK, how could you NOT note them! Right!?!?!?

A close-up of the garlands ... ummm, for the macabre - note the teeth in the upper most skull. Freaky! And kinda spooky!! And pretty damn cool too!!!

This is basically the artist "signing" his work ... with the date (1870), his name (Frantisek Rint, show here as F Rint), and then a quote of "with hardening of the Czech's" - - now THAT is a way to identify your artistic creations!

So, I made it down the stairs - - it took a little time, I must admit. I will still a little unnerved about the place and what I would see - - and was also trying to take it ALL in. So, this image looks back up the stairs towards the entrance. Note how the bones basically decorate almost all spaces ... and considering they are the remains of dead people, quite tasteful decorations at that!

This next one is pretty mind blowing ...

There are four of these pyramids (also described as bells) in the ossuary, one in each corner of the floor. They are basically stacks of bones, really really big stacks of course. Words cannot really describe what it was like to stand mere inches away from this thing, surreal and odd and exciting and freaky and neat and scary.

A close-up of the decorations above the bone pyramid. I love that you can actually see the cobwebs in the pic!

This is a close-up of the hole at the base of the bone pyramid ... whoa, did we enter the Twilight Zone here or what?!?!

Around the corner from one of the bone pyramids is this coat-of-arms, for the family that owns the ossuary and commissioned Rint to create the bone art - the Schwarzenberg's. Wow - just wow, that's all I've got on this one.

A close-up of the top of the coat.

Close-up of the 'bust' on the lower right of the coat. Note the ribs sticking out of the top of the head. The "bird" represents a raven eating an eyeball of a Hussite - the band that led the church reformation about a hundred years before Luther. The "bird" is also made of human bones, not bird ones. Freaky!!!

My goodness, some teeth just NEVER decay do they?!?! This is also on the coat.

This is a wide-shot of the ossuary, taken from one wall towards the other. The coat-of-arms is on my right, and a bone pyramid is on either side of me. That's Colleen standing in from of the ossuary altar.

The ossuary altar. Note the bone art in the recessed nooks on either wall.

Me and Colleen standing under the chandelier (wait, just wait until you see that!) - and on top of, although unbeknownst at the time, the entrance to the tomb.

The chandelier, taken from the floor below - cool camera placement tip from a tour guide - taken with flash.

Taken without flash ... f-r-e-a-k-y!

The chandelier from a more normal angle. There is one of EVERY human bone in this masterpiece ... so so so creative and cool!

Look ma ... no self-portrait here! Thanks Colleen!!! I sent this to my ink man (Jimmy) who posted it on his Facebook page with the amusing caption "Amy showing off her work to some dead folks" ... nice! Oh yeah, thanks for getting my name right Jim!

This is the altar of the chapel upstairs from the ossuary.

And that is it for the bones ladies and gents ... so a little history before I show off a couple of my Kutna Hora shots, which is a sweet little town.

The property started out as a Cistercian monastery, in 1142. Then in 1278 the King of Bohemia, Oktar II, sent the abbot of Sedlec on a diplomatic mission to the Holy Land. When Abbot Henry left Jerusalem, he took with him a handful of earth from Golgotha (the place of Jesus' crucifixion outside of Jerusalem's walls) and brought it back and sprinkled it over the abbey cemetery.

Word of this pious act soon spread, and wealthy people from all over Central Europe (not just Bohemia) wanted to be buried there. 

The cemetery had to be greatly enlarged during the Black Death (mid 14th century) - - so much so that it is recorded that in 1318 the cemetery already had 30,000 dead buried there in mass graves. The cemetery was enlarged again for the Hussite wars (early 15th centutry).

Around 1400 a new Gothic church was erected in the center of the cemetery, with a vaulted chapel on the upper floor and the ossuary on the lower. According to legend, in 1511 the task of exhuming and stacking the bones was given to a half-blind monk.

The rest I've told you earlier ... in 1870 the Schwarzenberg's commissioned woodcarver Frantisek Rint to "arrange" the bones ... and what an arrangement they are!

And now ... off to the town of Kutna Hora.

What a cool shot! Through a broken window of an old, crumbling and abandoned building ... with plants growing inside of it!

The cathedral at Kutna Hora.

A fabulous old and crumbling building in Kutna Hora ... love it!

The monument in the town square of Kutna Hora. Neat!

A sweet quaint little cobblestone street in Kutna Hora.

Colleen's pic ... me with our cute Skoda (a Czech made car).

Colleen's pic ... we stumbled into the Italian Court (not sure about the significance of it) in Kutna Hora, and Colleen snapped a pic of me as I discovered that I could get UP to that sweet balcony. Just LOOK at that corner area ... a tower, vines, a balcony, some sort of extruded area - - - I think I am in heaven!

Colleen's pic ... Ha! I was right!!! I can get up to the balcony ... hurray!!

Colleen's pic ... I mean really - just LOOK at that?!?!?! How gorgeous is that? I was able to go up the spiral stone staircase (in the tower) and locate that balcony ... it was awesome, dark and cool and a little spooky!

Colleen's pic ... see, there I am coming out of the spiral staircase in the tower!

Colleen's pic ... A map of Kutna Hora built into the sidewalk - neat!

Colleen's pic ... the Kutna Hora cistern.

My pic taken with Colleen's camera (as mine was outta juice) ... a really cool church.

And that is it my friends. Colleen and I had dinner at a Mexican place in the center of Kutna Hora, as they would have vegetarian for me and also had wireless for Colleen. Needless to say, the meal was NOT yummy - for either of us really, although Colleen's second plate (1st got messed up) was sorta alright.

We got back to Prague by about 11p, and planned to meet the following morning around 10a - - to be off to Dresden, Germany ... woo hoo!!

Thanks for coming along with me on this journey!

Here is a link to the day's photo's on my Picasa page ... "Can you save her Bones?" ... "I don't know Captain, I just don't know" ... and also Colleen's Pix

Tune in tomorrow for Dresden ...

Jud

Friday the 18th, part 1 - - Prague Castle, again

Two blog entries in 12 hours, whew - I am actually making progress here! Thank goodness ... it was starting to feel like a chore, and I certainly do NOT want that - as I enjoy it too much for that.


So, Friday the 18th was Colleen's 2nd day here - and we had big plans. I needed to get back to Prague Castle for an A+A homework assignment, and the ticket the teacher purchased yesterday was good for 2 days only - so it had to be today. I needed to see 2 things at the Castle:  1) Vladislav's Hall, and 2) "The Story of Prague Castle" exhibit. Colleen was interested in both, so she came along.


However, we also wanted to get out to Kutna Hora (about an hour east) where the Sedlec Ossuary is ... aka The Bone Church. We were originally turned on to this by Jimmy "Tatts" - our most talented ink man. However, Colleen's trusty sidekick (Rick Steeves) highly recommended it as well. So, the plan was to rent a car and be off in the afternoon while doing the Castle in the morning. The car seemed like a better idea than a guided tour bus, because we could then use it to take a road trip to Germany or Poland the next day - as well as do something Sunday as well.


And off we went to the Castle! Which, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, is the largest coherent castle complex in the world! It is just under 230,000 sq ft. Whew!


Here are some pics of our journey along the way - we took the metro to Malostranska and walked up the l-o-n-g hill from there.

Ah ha! Sir Winston Churchill, who guards the entrance to the British Embassy - which sits under the shadow of the Castle itself.

This shows the stairs, well SOME of them, that we had to climb to get to the Castle grounds. Also, a sweet little brick house - someone's actual FRONT door is ON the staircase! Neat!!

So, now we've made it to the Castle entrance - - and it is protected by large dark and violent statues on either side or it, this being one. Hmmm ... something like 'speak softly but carry a REALLY big club' - - is that it?     ;-}

The entrance to the Castle, or the one we went in anyway - which happened to be a different one than my A+A class took the day before.

A frontal shot of the fabulously spooky St. Vitus Cathedral.

A lower shot of St. Vitus, so you can see the great metal "story" doors - - will show that more another day, but basically there are pictures molded into it to show the story of the cathedral ... as it took almost 600 years to be fully completed.

Kinda creepy ... I wouldn't want this creature outside my window!

A view of the back of St. Vitus ... wow, it almost look metal on the top doesn't it? So so so so cool to me.

So, I finally managed to drag myself away from St. Vitus - and towards the "Story" exhibit. This is the courtyard we walked through on the way to the Old Royal Place ... note the pointed archways, which are Gothic.

The "Story" exhibit, a permanent fixture held in the Old Royal Palace, encompasses more than a 1000 years of history about the Castle. Again, I was not allowed to take any pictures inside the exhibit.


There were some really neat items in the exhibit; notably the funeral outfits and ceremonies of the royalty (in The Story of Burials), info on the patrons (aka Saints) of the Castle and country (The Story of the Patrons of Bohemia), and lastly a particular sculpture titled "Throne of Wisdom/Coronation of the Virgin" which was originally made for the St. George's Convent (see 'yesterdays' blog of St. George's Basilica) in the 12th century.


This sculpture is apparently a common theme in that time period, and is described in Latin (as that was the only language used for religion back then) as "In gremio matris, Sedet sapientia patris" ... which translates to "the wisdom of the father remains in the lap of the mother." The sculpture show Jesus as a man, sitting in the lap of much larger Mary - who is about to by crowned by angels on either side of her head. Again, this "Throne of Wisdom" was a common occurrence in sculptures back then - - I actually saw it again when I went to the St. Agnes Convent too.


Basically, what I like about it is the explanation that my teacher Chris gave ... it acknowledges that Jesus' (the father) wisdom ultimately came from Mary (the mother) via her womb. Love it!


And that was about it for "The Story of Prague Castle" exhibit. Not terribly exciting for me, but not onerous either.


Now ... we move on to Vladislav's Hall - which WAS exciting and cool! And ... I was able to take photos - well, sort of. Basically, the Castle allows non-flash photos in this hall for an extra 50kc ($2.50) which I was absolutely willing to pay - - however, I did not. Sigh ... okay, the full story then.


When we arrived at the entrance to Vladislav's Hall, the actual Hall mind you not the building (Royal Palace), and the woman went to punch our tickets - she stared at mine a little longer, and then proceeded to tell me that it was a 'student' ticket. I agreed, and told her that I was there yesterday with my class and the teacher bought all of us tickets. She went on to say that in Czech, student must be under 26 years old. I said okay, but I was a student and had been given this ticket by my teacher. She continued to harrass (slightly) me, and it felt like to me she was implying that I got the less-expensive student ticket by lying to the ticket agent. Maybe it was a translation issues, maybe my pride, or maybe she WAS indeed implying that - who knows, could be a combo of them. Regardless, after about 3 minutes of this back and forth - I had had enough, and told Colleen to forget getting me a picture pass (she had nicely gotten in line to buy one) and just walked into the Hall, leaving the ever vigilant watch-dog at her post.


And so ... I decided that I would take pictures anyway. Petty I know, but there it is. I did also sketch the fabulous ceiling of the amazingly large and impressive hall though.


And so enjoy folks ... pictures aren't as good as most of my others, because the lighting was poor and I couldn't use a flash.

Here is a close-up of the ceiling of Vladislav's Hall that I sketched. Nice ribs!

This is Vladislav's Hall ... from the point of view of the entry door, where that LOVELY woman was just doing her job dammit! This hall was designed to be a Throne Room, although was used as a festival and banquet hall more often than not.

This shot was taken from a balcony, at the far end of the Hall - on the right side (if you are looking at the previous Hall pic). This is a view of Prague you may not have seen before, as it faces North ... away from the Charles Bridge.

This is a cute little walkway to the right of the balcony off Vladislav's Hall ... would love to walk out there!

This is the chapel at the far end of Vladislav's Hall ... just a little thing really.    ;-}

A close-up of the organ in Vladislav's chapel.

And that was it for the Castle folks. Had a lovely, mostly, time there - - and now it was time to move on to our Day of Death ... and to get the car.

We walked down from the Castle and over to the Jewish Quarter, where the car rental place was. Snapped some nice shots along the walk ...

As we walked along the Vltava River, which was quiet and serene and lovely, I noticed some flowers along the river banks and wanted to get a pic. Sigh - - -

This is a cool building I saw up on a hill, I don't know what it is - but I like it!

This is a statue on the Manesuv Most (bridge) we crossed over into the Jewish Quarter. The statue is actually on the bridge support, just above the water - - so not visible from the bridge surface itself, rather to boaters along the water ... cool! I happened to glance down and saw her, lighting the way if you will. There was another torch lady on the 2nd support as well.

A self-portrait of me and my girl Colleen!

A most fabulous old and ornate and super cool building in the Jewish Quarter ... love it!

And here friends, I must stop. It is time for me to get up and get ready for school, and finish up my A+A homework as well. I will finish Part 2 of this day this evening.

Here is a link to this day's photos on my Picasa page ... Friday - a lovely day for Castle and Bones!

Until later then ...